If my boss was around I would mention I was leaving. If not, and my assistant was around I would mention I was leaving. If no one was around I would just leave.
The reason given in all scenarios is ‘I’m leaving before I stab someone in the face with a fork.’ Good thing the folks at work get my sense of humour…
I send an email to the other 5 supervisors and my boss. I might tell the whole plumber story or just say I’m leaving for an appointment, depending on my mood. I tell my team in person and ask them to take care of anything special.
The fact that it’s no big deal to do it (as long as it isn’t too often) is one of the reasons I work here. I’m primary caregiver to a 7 year old daughter with somewhat special needs, so I need a job that doesn’t look down on putting family first when I have to.
Edit to add: If it’s just 30 minutes early I just mention it to the supervisor next door and my team in person. Technically my 8 hours is up 30 minutes to an hour before I usually go home anyway.
We work flexible hours so it would be no problem. I’d just tell my work team I’m going. An explanation would depend on whether the story was interesting enough to bother telling.
Yesterday at work was very quiet and one woman left at 2 o’clock because she was bored. No one cared, we just said “See you on Monday.”
Salaried, and I work just as much unpaid overtime as straight time. So, (a) "I’m not feeling well. I’m going home, and I’ll call in if I can’t make it first thing in the morning. (b) “There’s a personal problem, and I’ve got to leave and take care of it.” If asked, I’ll describe the circumstance. © “I’m gonna beat traffic. See you all tomorrow.”
Of course, I can’t use all of these every day. I’m just as likely to tell my boss as my coworkers, and maybe even no one. We’re responsible engineers, and it’s noted amongst everyone if someone becomes abusive.
Im paid hourly on assembly line factory , If I have notice that I have to be out of work early then I book any remaining vacation time. Last minute notice , usually its a sick leave request to leave work early and the supervisor is notified and i fill out an emergency leave form for the amount of time that I am leaving and the reason why, regardless if its actually true or not.
Declan
I don’t tell anyone, I just leave. We set up meetings using outlook, and i I had one, but had to leave early for an emergency, I’d email the person who set up the meeting.
Some people have signs near their door with typical locations, and a magnet they move appropriately. Locations like “in” “out”, “Gone for day”, “Room 123 X5678”.
EmAnJ, is this a poll, or are you looking for solutions for your situation?
When I worked in an office, if my boss wasn’t there I would email him and let him know that I had left. I would also tell anyone who needed to know how to reach me.
I suppose a bit of both. What I did do was email my boss with a cc to the nosy EA letting them know I was leaving early and referenced that I had to do stuff at my house. My boss emailed back letting me know he received it.
If I have to leave, no one is going to tell me I can’t. But I’d be expected to – and I would – email my office manager and the receptionist(s) so they know I’m not around, and I should also email or speak to anyone that I’m working with immediately that day so that no one is screwed waiting for me to complete something when I’m not there.
My office is big enough that it’s hard to tell if someone is gone for the day, gone for lunch, or in the bathroom for a few minutes, so it’s really important to let folks know if I’m not around during my normal hours.
It depends on a lot of things.
Our office has a web tool for such things, and another web tool which also has to be updated.
But in my team the understanding is that if it is a couple of hours we just tell the boss. The web tool is horrible and takes around 15 minutes to update.
We all work so much over the normal office hours that no one dares to question our occasional absence. But I make sure to set an out of office notice, in case I had some meetings scheduled.
Whatever the need I tell my boss, “I need to take off at X time today.”
He says, “Okay.”
I don’t abuse it and it works out fine for both of us.
I work in a public library, so there is always someone else I can let know that I need to leave (or, in certain cases, won’t be back from lunch/dinner).
Absolute worst case scenario is that this would happen on a day when I’m acting as the manager on duty for my branch, in which case it is possible that someone who does not have a security code for the alarm system might have to lock up the building.
Normal procedure though, would be for me to tell (or call) my immediate supervisor, the branch manager, any other manager, any other professional staff, or any staff person (in that order of preference) to inform them of my inability to come/return to work.
Call in a bomb threat 
Kidding!!! 
I work in a large government office of lawyers working cases mostly independently. I only go to my assistant directors if there’s a problem, and to my director when I need something officially authorized. We come and go according to our own schedules, and we travel a lot for our cases, so it’s entirely common for someone not be in his or her office on any given day.
Under these circumstances, I’ve wondered how long I could simply stop going to work before anyone would notice. My rough guess is three to six weeks.
Right now, I would have to hunt my supervisor down and ask for permission. If she okays it, I’m free to go (after I go back to my cube to complete a leave request via email). Leaving early just because is verboten. In order to leave for illness, I pretty much have to yark into her lap.
In the next few weeks we will be switching over to a new work environment where we supposedly are free to come and go at will, as long as we get our 40 hours and sufficient work product in. Not all are agreeable to it, but it’s mandatory. Our team has already scratched three agreements for how coverage will be handled due to particularly stuuborn co-workers who just cannot grasp the idea of working outside the office walls outside the usual 8 - 430.
Am a lawyer. No one cares if you leave early or late as long as you don’t abuse it. At any given time, I might be in court, at a clients, in a meeting, out of station etc. My clerks know how to reach me and so does my boss and he is not shy about calling me at 10 pm for work related issues, so I am not shy about leaving if I have no work.
Ah, all you lucky people who work in offices and have email.
I work as an hourly employee in a very small retail store. If I am fortunate enough to be working with one of my two coworkers, I will turn to them as soon as I get out of the bathroom and say, “I’m not going to make it…I need to head home” if they are the scheduled closer. If I am the closer, I will beg them to work a double and cover my end of the shift (another 2 hours past the end of their shift) and they will get to come in late or leave early later in the week. If I am working alone, with no one coming in to relieve me and I am so deathly ill that it would be impossible for me to do anything other than sit on the toilet while throwing up in the wastebasket for the rest of my shift, I would have to call my manager, then call the regional manager, then call mall management, then put a sign on the door, and possibly call any customers who might be coming back for an urgent item. Then close the register.
If it is a household emergency…I’d better be the only person on the planet who can handle it for a couple of hours. Or I’d better plan better.
If traffic is heavy …sucks to be me. I can only leave early if someone else is there to cover and I didn’t eat lunch. Having to deal with a bit of traffic is NOT a good enough excuse. But then, this is Cleveland…traffic is never THAT bad, even on game days.
In any event, I have to take the time off as personal time/sick time/vacation time…it’s all one pool of hours. Or I just don’t get paid.
If it’s a couple of hours or less, I usually just leave. More than that and I might send my boss an email “FYI- have to head out at X:00”. He’s 1200 miles away and we might only speak once a month anyway, so it’s just a courtesy. I’ll swing by the VP’s office on my way out and give a wave and say “gotta go, I’ll be in in the morning.”
Things are pretty flexible with my lab, but then again we do work long hours and some weekends.
I would walk down two doors and tell the Dir of Tech that I had to leave early today and I will be available via mobile and web if anyone needs me.
That is assuming, of course, that I wasn’t supporting an installation on the West Coast.
Like I am today, for example.
I would call my boss and let her know I had to leave. If I couldn’t get a hold of her, I would leave her a message or send and email. I’d also let my subordinate know and remind her my cell # so she can reach me if she needs to.